


Rise of the Moon

by yuletide_archivist



Category: Juuni Kokki | Twelve Kingdoms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-19
Updated: 2007-12-19
Packaged: 2018-01-25 02:11:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1626053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuletide_archivist/pseuds/yuletide_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The kingdom of Tai becomes the site of a never-before-seen event: a summit of all rulers across the twelve kingdoms. But someone has malicious plans for certain attendees.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rise of the Moon

**Author's Note:**

> I apologozie for butchering the Japanese and English languages, Chinese mythology, series continuity and the laws of nature. I did enjoy myself thoroughly while writing this piece and would do so again on a moment's notice. I took some liberties with the requests because I could not get the Kirin out of my head, but I do think that Shoryu and Youko had their fun, while Suzu may never forgive me. I hope you have as much fun reading this as I had writing! Enjoy!
> 
> Written for magicnoire

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Kei no Youko**

The day  
was beautiful, one of the first I remember since we arrived in Tai a  
couple of weeks earlier. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to  
practice my swordskill and Shoryu almost jumped at the suggestion.  
Between all the courtiers and emperors, I felt out of place, restless  
\- and I could only guess that it was worse for Shoryu, who had spent  
most of the time arguing with just about everyone. The emperors  
didn't take to the idea of inviting the delegates from Hou.

"Pay  
attention," Shoryu yelled as his sword came down hard on my left  
arm. I winced and tried to regain my balance without showing too much  
of an outward sign.

"Sorry," I said, "there's  
much on my mind."

He relaxed back into a practiced stance  
that I was sure had a name, written in some old book or scroll about  
the art of fighting. All I had were the memories of Keiki's hinman  
and a vague fear of the blade touching any part of my body. Perhaps I  
should have let the hinman stay, as he had wished, but I knew that  
the temptation to let him take over would be too great for both of  
us. I needed to feel the sword in my own hand, let it become part of  
me, as a relic to the kingdom deserved.

"Banish the  
thoughts, for now. There is plenty of time to have them later, when  
the emperor of Han has another rant at the assembly."

I  
tried not to laugh, but it was hard with our swords locked and his  
put-upon face so close. Shoryu and the emperor of Han were like  
rivaling brothers, always trying to one-up each other. It brought  
some much needed amusement to the rest of us and it was never quite  
serious.

Not like the vitriol some of the lower courtiers  
tended to spew against Hou delegates, and vice versa. The gardens  
around Tai's royal palace were full of angry glares and  
conspiratorial whispers. It didn't help that the flowers and trees  
were just coming out of their decades long hibernation. I felt most  
comfortable around the friends I'd brought with me, in large but  
sparsely furnished chambers that could be situated in any of the  
twelve kingdoms. Tai's scarred wilderness still made me feel like I  
should have somehow noticed Taiki's presence in Japan, when he'd  
lived so close to me for so long. Like I owed something to this  
burned and frozen country.

Thwack. Shoryu's sword came down  
hard on my left shoulder. The force brought me to my knees. I tried  
not to cry out, but the blooming pain brought tears to my  
eyes.

"Youko! Are you injured?" The concern in his  
voice was at least a small consolation. Clearly he hadn't been  
entirely in control of his swing, or else he would have been able to  
stop it before it hit me. Still, it hurt like hell and I had to use  
my sword as support when I tried to stand.

"I'll be  
fine," I said through clenched teeth.

"That's  
probably going to bruise," he said. Now that he knew I was more  
or less okay, he allowed that mocking tone back into his voice. I was  
never sure if the sarcasm came naturally to him or if he used it as a  
method for deflection.

That's when it happened. One moment he  
looked at ease, amusement and concern warring on his features, then  
his face turned into a stony mask and I froze in place. Something was  
terribly wrong. I cursed my insistence on leaving the hinman with  
Keiki when Shoryu flipped me around and behind him and the first  
metallic sounds of a real fight rang through the silence.

There  
were five of them and their movements were fluid and graceful. Their  
clothes were unmarked but untattered and of high quality. These were  
not street thugs or starving citizens of Tai in a crazed attempt to  
find something to eat or a place to stay. Someone had gone to great  
lengths to train and equip these men for a very specific  
purpose.

Which seemed to be killing me or Shoryu. "Watch  
out," I yelled, but instinct had already taken me forward to  
brace off the blow that would have split Shoryu's head.

Within  
an instant I had switched form stationary target to opponent, and it  
served to confuse our attackers enough for Shoryu to kill two of them  
with a single mighty swipe. Blood sprayed from their open throats as  
they stumbled around, no longer enemies but obstacles to be used  
against their comrades-in-arms. Shoryu kicked the larger one into  
their group. A fine mist of blood settled onto their clothes and I  
gripped my sword hard enough to bruise. They were coming at us now,  
and I could not afford to think, only to let my body take  
control.

Shoryu danced around me like an angel of vengeance,  
and his sword was a mere blur in the air.

"Die,  
Outsider," said a gruff voice behind me, and then everything  
turned black.

 

**Kei no Suzu**

I slipped past the  
palace guards, who gave me indulgent, if perhaps slightly lewd  
smiles, and went on my way to find Shoukei. I did not like to think  
of her alone in this place, not after the humiliation she had felt  
yesterday at the hands of Empress Kyou. The nerve of that woman, as  
old as she was, to be so careless with people. Sure, Shoukei had done  
her fair share of careless things as princess of Hou, but she had  
suffered for them more than anyone should be made to suffer.

The  
walls in the palace of Tai were made of a bright marble that  
reflected the torchlight in a thousand colors. And yet, the small  
windows gave the palace something ominous and claustrophobic. Like  
the walls were alive with malicious intent.

Perhaps my steps  
were a little more careful, my pace a little faster, along these  
halls. I would stop to chat with delegates I had met before, but I  
would never stay in one corridor too long. I told myself it was  
because I was worried for Shoukei, and I believed it. Waking in our  
room alone had become uncommon, and quite unsettling. Shoukei's face  
was the first thing I saw each morning and it anchored me in a  
reality far away from a family that sold me or a mistress that abused  
me. It gave me peace, and finding myself alone in a strange place - I  
did not care for the experience.

The palace was quite crowded.  
All the emperors had come with a sizable court, and each of them  
thought they were the most important person to ever walk the ground  
of this world. Not like Shoukei who had learned so much of humility.  
That's when I remembered. She had spoken of the kitchens last night,  
of the wonderful smells and the chance that there could be peace  
there, away from the hectic activity of the summit.

I spotted  
a girl wearing the uniform of Tai palace staff and decided to follow  
her. If she turned out to be headed somewhere else, I could just ask  
her for direction, but until then I preferred to stay unseen. The  
quiet was a nice change. She led me down, past industrious looking  
groups and bored guards, and the design of the building surrounding  
us became less glamorous, more practical, and quite a lot darker. Or  
perhaps the innate darkness just didn't need to be covered were only  
staff could see.

The girl hastened her steps and I wondered  
were she needed to be in such a hurry. As we passed more and more  
people, it occurred to me that she hadn't exchanged greetings with  
any of them, and barely raised her head to look them in the  
eye.

Sudden dread made me stop. Something about the situation  
felt very wrong.

There were footsteps behind me. Hurried boots  
on stone.

I turned around.

Three large men, all wearing  
staff uniforms, with weapons raised that most definitely did not  
belong to their uniforms - the unearthly gleam gave them away as  
touki - stared at me with murder in their eyes. The girl tapped me on  
the shoulder. I turned again to face her, aware of the three men and  
their weapons at my back. She had a pleasant face, almost beautiful,  
but some kind of evil had distorted her features. Anger and hatred  
seemed to boil under the surface, inexpertly concealed.

"You  
shouldn't have come down here," she said, and her voice dripped  
venom. "We have no patience for Outsiders snooping into our  
business."

I could only read death on her face. "What  
do you mean? I was merely looking for the kitchens." I winced as  
the sharp point of one of those touki was pressed against my  
spine.

"You were following me."

"Yes,  
because I thought you were going there as well, given your attire."  
I had more than enough experience to recognize a servant's purpose  
from their clothing - unfortunately, I hadn't paid attention to the  
way she held herself, a soldier through and through.

She was  
quiet, then, perhaps thinking of ways to kill me. I had no idea what  
I had stumbled upon, here, but it didn't bode well for my continued  
health. The sudden smile on her face caused shivers on every inch of  
my body.

"Bind her. She could be useful."

Only  
then did I realize that death wasn't the worst thing they could bring  
upon me.

 

**En no Rokuta**

What kind of god was  
Tentei anyway? A vindictive bastard, that's what. The kind that made  
creatures like us, poor buggers, who could only obey their masters,  
who had to watch as tragedy unfolded with no way to intervene.  
Sentient tools, that's what we were. Like those whatsit... robots, in  
the other world. Maybe he enjoyed the hell out of it. Maybe he just  
didn't care.

And maybe I should pay attention to Keiki, or he  
might explode.

"Rokuta!"

Oh, he liked to use  
my name. It made him feel all important. I would need to find a way  
to pay him back, maybe something itchy in his formal robes -  
something to get that stick out of his-

"I'm telling you,  
something very worrying is going on here."

Yes, yes, of  
course. There were uninvited guests in the palace, but Shoryu had  
rather grimly ordered me not to mention it to anyone, including my  
dear little repressed brother.

"If I were to tell you  
something that En-ou ordered me not to, I could count on your  
discretion, correct?"

Keiki paled, but the curiosity was  
plain on his face. "I could never ask you to do such a thing,"  
he said, but he only paid lip-service to the sentiment. We kirin were  
a strange bunch, that's for sure.

"Say, hypothetically,  
my master and a certain red-haired vixen-", hehe, apparently he  
was aware of his mistress' comely qualities, if the blush was any  
indication, "had been in the gardens this morning, practicing  
that dreadful sword-fighting again." And that was another topic  
that could send him in a rage. Youko's penchant for disregarding her  
own safety was a source of much amusement to those who ended up  
watching Keiki worrying himself into an early grave. It was strangely  
endearing. "And say, that, perhaps, they were attacked by a  
group of very nasty swordsmen with a grudge-" If I didn't want  
him to run off after his mistress, I would have to make the rest of  
this fast. "Who, of course, our two awesome masters beat like  
the awesome masters they are." Overkill, do you think? "Would  
you think that was a strange thing to keep secret?"

Keiki  
wavered between running off like a dog, or using his brains to find  
out more about the incident before bursting in on his oh-so-reckless  
mistress to berate her on the concept of letting other people fight  
her battles. I could tell it was a close call, from the way he was  
twitching. He was just so much fun to wind up.

"So you  
think it's connected?" Kouri popped up right behind me, and I  
did not - absolutely not - give a startled yelp. Anyone who said  
otherwise deserved whatever they got, even the very cold showers or  
the inexplicable loss of their clothing thereafter.

"Of  
course it's connected," I said, grumbling. He was a smart kid,  
but the newly acquired height didn't do much for him at all. He had  
been much cuter when I could still see the top of his head. "Suzu  
is not the kind of girl to disappear or ignore a summons of her  
empress. Hell, she's the type to apologize for not reading your mind  
before you have to give her orders."

Keiki frowned. "Now  
you're exaggerating."

I felt the urgent need to bonk him  
on the head. Damn his size and Tentei's sense of humor concerning  
kirin maturity and growth. "Of course I'm exaggerating! But the  
fact remains that En-ou and Kei-ou were attacked, and Suzu is  
missing. Don't you see it?" I might have started pacing at this  
point. I could always think better on my feet.

Kouri snapped  
his fingers. "You're right!"

Keiki still didn't get  
it, but then he was always the pretty type - not much brains, but a  
face that made empresses quite insane. Haha. Damn, that was a bad  
one, and I should stop feeling so bad about making inappropriate  
comments were no one could possibly hear them. On the other hand,  
Tentei might have given some of us telepathy just to fuck with my  
head.

"Look at what all the victims have in common. All  
of them, so far, were born in the other world."

Kouri  
gave me a speculative look that made me giddy and worried at the same  
time. "I think," he said, "I have just the right idea  
to find out for sure."

 

**En no Shoryu**

There  
were ways to gather information that didn't involve so much as a drop  
of blood. I preferred those most of the time, but occasionally a  
situation arose that seemed almost predestined for violence. The only  
thing stopping me from dragging the dagger across my captive's skin,  
slow enough to make him feel the burn in ever broken cell, was the  
image of Rokuta's disapproving glare. After five hundred years, it  
had been seared into my brain. He would understand the necessity, of  
course, and he would forgive me, but the smell of blood would still  
make him sick. There needn't be any more pain from this. That were  
the lessons I learned from my beautiful annoying companion - avoid  
pain, if at all possible.

"Tell me who you work for, and  
this will be quick." Painless. My kirin would approve.

The  
man spat at me. "I will not tell you anything, Outsider."

That  
word again. Youko had heard it, too, before one of them had knocked  
her unconscious in the garden. Outsider. Other-worlder. Could that be  
all it was? A group of people with enough hatred and so little  
knowledge that they would hold taika and kaikyaku responsible for  
every little thing wrong with their world? I have met peasant like  
that, poor, malnourished creatures with only half a mind left from  
starvation. But never these zealous soldiers, bent on utter  
destruction with a complete disregard for their own life.

It  
couldn't be true.

Unless.

"What is your primary  
target?"

The man glared at me in silence. His refusal to  
speak gave me quite a few ideas. Clearly they were after someone  
specific, and it hadn't been me or Youko. But they had known us for  
what we were, once. Interesting.

"Who, then? The taiho of  
Tai?"

It was a possibility. The man didn't react to it,  
but that could be sign enough. Taiki's troubled history could be more  
than enough for any deranged group to target him. His life in the  
other world, his return there, the loss of Gyousou. Perhaps.

"Or  
is it the new empress of Tai?"

At that, he practically  
snarled and began to yell unintelligible insults at me. Very, very  
interesting.

 

**Tai no Kouri**

I followed Enki  
down into the cellars.

 _Do you think it is wise?_ Gouran  
said, as he projected a few things into my head that he could imagine  
happening to us. Always the creative one. I was grateful that he'd  
kept himself in check while in Japan, even stopping Sanshi from  
killing Yuka once or twice. A good servant, as long as he wished to  
be.

_I have you to protect me._

He growled, which  
seemed to imply pleasure on his part. He could read my mind like an  
open book, but his was still elusive. A William Turner type image,  
all swirling colors and half-imagined shapes.

Enki enjoyed the  
detective work more than anyone. He was, for all intents and  
purposes, more a child of Japan than any of us. Over the centuries he  
had managed to spend at least a day each year in the other world,  
watching as it slowly unfolded and evolved, while the twelve kingdoms  
seemed to be so tranquil and unchanging. Of course, that was mere  
imagination. We had our wars and revolutions. Just now, above us the  
emperors and courtiers and the delegates from Hou all argued the  
sensibility of armistices and trade contracts, of government reforms  
and legitimate rulership. It was, perhaps, progress, but the face of  
our world would never change.

Not like Earth! Where suffering  
seemed to bear new and unimaginable wonders, where people chose and  
believed in their right to choose.

It was a matter of balance.  
The two worlds were connected on some deeper level, and everything  
that happened here had a bearing on what happened on the other side.  
Perhaps the drive for freedom and democracy in Hou reflected a  
movement into another direction somewhere else. There had been enough  
events in the news the last couple of years to choose from, even if I  
hadn't paid much attention to anything outside myself at the  
time.

"I think we're here."

The walls here  
were unwashed and made of rough, grey stone. This was no part of the  
palace that guests or kirin were supposed to see. Here the only  
rulers were the old maids and the burly cooks, people who had only  
their experience to vouch for them. It felt comfortable.

"Wow,  
it's creepy down here."

Anyone who saw us would think of  
the same thing. Two creatures so pale they might as well be ghosts,  
and a black haired boy with dark clothes and a darker expression. I  
quite ruined the picture by laughing into my hand. Enki glared at me,  
while Keiki seemed puzzled. His gaze was trained on the far end of  
the hall, where a girl seemed to have appeared out of thin  
air.

"Maybe you could help us," he said. It was a  
chance, though many of the staff were still too much in awe to make  
much sense when spoken to directly by any of us kirin. Conditioning  
like that took a while to break down. This one seemed strange though,  
not at all caught with uncontrollable reverence, but caught up in  
thought nonetheless.

 _There are armed men closing around us,_  
Gouran said. _Should I take care of them?_

It was  
tempting, but I said no. The girl was either a simple decoy or a  
knowledgeable member of the group that was hunting down people like  
me, like Enki. In any case, we were quite likely to find out what  
happened to Suzu if we went along with the game.

"We are  
looking for a friend of ours," I said, pasting a smile on my  
face. "Her name is Suzu."

 _Three kirin walk into a  
trap_ \- I was sure I'd heard a joke like this before. There was no  
way this would end well. Not for them, at least, not with Gouran  
getting all excited in the back of my mind.

The girl smiled,  
nodded, a little too excitedly to be genuine. "I've seen her,  
majesties, if you would follow me. I could show you."

I  
was reasonably sure Suzu was still alive, which was probably a good  
thing for the kidnappers. As long as no one had died, there was no  
need to call their actions murder or treason. No need to defend  
ourselves with lethal force. I would quite like that to stay the  
case.

We were led down a winding path ever deeper into the  
inner workings of the palace. In all my exploration, I had never made  
it here so far, and I cursed myself for the lack. If the walls were  
more familiar, if I had done more to get to know our servants- but  
no, this was not about careless abuse by a inattentive ruler, this  
was about xenophobia. These people wanted me, and the gentle Suzu,  
because of where we were born. The idea spun itself further in my  
mind while we followed the girl, and I began to fret about the  
empress. If something were to happen to us, would she be  
safe?

_Gouran-_

The voice mocked me, in my own  
mind, but it was a gentle humor. He had already anticipated my fears.  
 _She is safe. En-ou and Kei-ou are with her. It seems En-ou has  
come to a similar conclusion as you, and there are protective details  
all around the conference halls._

Whatever their plan had  
been, that alone would probably deter them.

"We are  
almost there."

_Twelve armed men behind us, twenty more  
in the room ahead. I could take them out._

I shook my head  
slightly, but made sure Gouran let the others know. An unexpected  
trap was a functioning trap.

As we stepped inside, the men  
came out of concealment, brandishing their weapons like badges of  
honor. They wore touki, all of them, and to the blades clung the  
faint scent of blood. These men were used to killing creatures much  
more powerful than themselves, they would not be afraid of three  
kirin who had nothing but their shirei to defend them. That  
miscalculation could cost them their lives.

"Where is  
Suzu?" I said, perhaps with too much demand in my voice to keep  
up the pretense.

The girl caught my tone immediately and  
snapped her fingers. Two guards brought out the bound and gagged  
Suzu, who looked both afraid and very angry. As she saw us, she  
relaxed visibly, and the last of her fear turned livid. These people  
had some pain coming to them, at the end of all this. I would pity  
them more, perhaps, if my second time in Japan hadn't blunted me for  
the plight of psychotic murderous villains.

"The girl  
will die, but since you're here now, we can make it  
quick."

Apparently our decoy was a member after all, and  
not just that. The plain, but beautiful girl seemed quite in charge  
of the situation. The men around her had an air of deference, almost  
religious reverence. I smiled.

"Would you do me a favor?  
Tell me your name." I tried for charming and innocent, naive,  
the way I'd been before people like her had taken Gyousou from  
me.

She laughed. "Now why would I do that,  
outsider?"

Enki twitched with the threat of violence that  
was in the air. Of all the kirin, he was the one most likely to use  
it, and most disgusted with the need for it. A practical man with a  
soul of gold. Something like that. I grabbed for his hand, to  
reassure him, and perhaps myself. Keiki loomed behind us, a  
protective shell, and rather an impressive display of hidden power.  
If they had any brains at all, our would-be assassins would be  
running for the hills right about now.

"I need your name  
so as to know what to put on your obituary," I said to the  
girl.

 _Go,_ I said to Gouran.

 

**Tai no  
Yuka**

_Citizens of Tai, people of the twelve_  
kingdoms,

This is, as I have been told, the most important  
speech I will make in my reign as empress. I do not believe that this  
is the case, but I do believe that I should give you an impression of  
who I am and what you should expect from a kaikyaku on your  
throne.

Today a dear friend of a friend was abused and almost  
killed because of her birth. Like me, she was born in the other  
world, across the sea of emptiness. Her face did not change when she  
came her, and she did not understand the language as if by magic. She  
did not have a special purpose, like me, like so many of you. She  
just tried to live her life as best as she could.

When I first  
came from Hourai, I was desperate to find a quest, to be someone  
special. It took Kei-ou, a very special friend of mine, to make me  
realize that a normal life could be a purpose in itself. I returned  
to Hourai with peace of mind, and my purpose found me on its  
own.

I'm sure by now you have all heard the story of Taiki's  
miraculous return. He brought the twelve kingdoms together, united  
them in a quest. He is the one you should look to thank for the new  
agreements and friendship between all of our kingdoms. He and his  
siblings, the honorable kirin, have long been only servants to the  
will of Tentei. Now I hope to make them feel free enough to speak  
their minds and choose what life they wish to live. Taiki will never  
be asked to bow to anyone, and most especially not to me.

People  
like him, and people like me, shall be welcome here in Tai, but not  
only our kind will find an open door and a warm bed wherever they  
find themselves in my kingdom. The people of Tai will never again go  
hungry, or without warm clothes on their backs, not as long as anyone  
can live in a palace like this.

In the kingdom of Tai, the  
will of the gods shall be obeyed, but never blindly. Every last  
person is precious. To that effect, the men, who entered the palace  
today with intent to kill me, will be pardoned. I have given them the  
choice to leave the kingdom or accept proper military training in my  
royal guard. Should they wish to stay, their families will be taken  
care of as any citizen of Tai can expect to be taken care of from now  
on.

I do not believe in vengeance, and I ask you, all of you,  
not to let vengeance against them rest in your hearts.

I  
dropped the pen - a girly pink thing I had in my back-pack when Taiki  
took hold of my hand and whispered that he would show me wonders  
beyond my imagination - and settled back against the pillows. Empress  
Yuka. Would you believe it?

"I like it," Youko said  
as she handed the paper back to me. "You've grown up a lot since  
I last saw you."

I threw a pillow at her. "You're  
the one to talk, Miss I-Stopped-Civil-War-All-By-Myself."

"I  
did not! I had a lot of help, and couldn't have done it without Suzu  
or Shoukei or any of them."

Wham, and the pillow planted  
itself right in my face. "You should hear the story from your  
friends. It's quite the heroic act, all grace and awesomeness. You're  
a fucking legend." I tried for sarcasm, but I was enjoying  
Youko's presence too much. What trying to kill someone did for a  
friendship could never be rendered into words.

Youko grinned  
at me. "So do you think you can pull it off? It seems quite the  
promise to make for a kingdom like Tai."

I grinned back.  
"I have powerful friends. I'll manage."

And I would.


End file.
